Broken Glass
by Spryte Magnus
Summary: Xion could have accepted vanishing, if that was all. She could have dealt with no trace of her being left behind. What became difficult was continuing to exist. It was then an offer was made by a boy she couldn't help but trust. A plot unfolded. And she learned she couldn't trust her own desires.
1. Chapter 1: Shatter

Xemnas told her she was different.  
Xigbar said she irked him.  
Xaldin suggested indifference.  
Vexen said she was special.  
Lexaeus rarely spoke.  
Zexion probably had to do with her creation.  
Saix despised her.  
Axel was an ally.  
Demyx was friend to all.  
Luxord invited all to play.  
Marluxia called her important.  
Larxene called her toy.  
Roxas...

Roxas was so much more. He was every memory Xion had for herself. When she realized her very existence hurt his, she knew something must be done. Vexen had created her. She did not wish to vanish, but she dreaded worse the thought of him fading away. Xion found Namine, in a way, part of herself. Were it not for Namine, she might not exist at all, Xion thought. Roxas had to remain, at whatever cost. Xion had braced herself. Or so she thought.

They'd forget her. Everyone would forget her. Even Roxas. No proof of her existence would linger. It would be like she'd never been. It stung her.

But she wouldn't let him fade away because of her. So she fought him. It was a battle for the right to _be_. She was thrilled and terrified when he won and she fell to the ground.

Xion was shattering as Roxas held her in those final moments. He had confusion and concern on his face. He cared about her, but he didn't know why he grieved for her vanishing. Her hand fell and he caught it.

"Who will I have ice cream with?"

Those simple words lifted cheer where Xion's heart would have been. She was able to smile weakly at their farewell. He would remember her, if even just a little bit. It was enough.


	2. Chapter 2: Shards of Glass

Sora's mind was a variety of stain glass platforms connected by blue glass stairs. It was gaining pieces back, and Xion understood why she had 'shattered'. She'd been made from these glass memories, or shards of them. So she returned to them. None the less she was endlessly lonely for a few weeks, though at times the empty halls felt oddly familiar. Then a tug of familiarity struck her while she walked over the shard that showed Kairi sitting on the docks. Xion spent much time there, always wondering why she resembled her in her truest form-through Roxas's eyes.

The tug grew stronger as time passed and more glass platforms appeared. She turned at last and saw why. On the platform not far from hers, standing as if in Sora's shadow in that glass image of the Keyblader, was Roxas.

"Roxas!" Her feet carried her and she ran down the blue stairs. He hadn't turned, but she suspected he simply couldn't hear her from the distance. All that she could think of was seeing him again, talking to him. Eternity, or however long she was trapped in Sora's mind, seemed all the better if he was there.

As if to kill the hope, it was as if an invisible wall stopped her at the base of the stairs. Xion could not pass it, and Roxas was just beyond it. She called for him again, banging on it, but it seemed he couldn't hear or see her. She was trapped behind a one sided window, screaming out in anguish as she banged her fists in a futile effort.

Time passed, and she felt Sora defeated the Organization. She was saddened to feel Demyx go, for her had never been mean to her. It was when Axel faded that pain struck.

Roxas had been sitting silently, immobile, since he'd arrived. But when Axel died he jerked his head up and screeched.  
"No! You can't! You promised we'd meet in the next life!" Roxas was shouting, sobbing. Xion felt pain shake her, for Axel had tried to include her, tried to shelter her. On top of it all, Roxas was in pain over it. She wanted to reach out to him, to hold him like he held her, as he cried. Yet she couldn't, the accursed wall making her...nothing. All she could do was hold a hand to it and wish he could hear her, if nothing else, so she could comfort him. The anguish lessened as time passed. Xion felt a certain glee when Sora defeated Saix and Xigbar. Finally, the 'Kingdom Hearts' was broken. The 'ceiling' became a sky, filled with stars. The sound of water and wind filled Xion's ears as Roxas finally lifted his head.  
"Roxas."

She was hopeful once more as he stood up and began walking toward the stairs. Xion rose, trembling, nor sure what to say. She soon learned she didn't need to. Roxas walked right past her, shivering a moment, and continuing up the stairs.  
"Roxas...?"

Xion stated at her hands, and wondered if she were only ice crystals. Her attention was grabbed instead as she turned and there was what Roxas had sought to join. Namine had been on the stain glass with Kairi's visage. _That's my platform!_ Perhaps it was the envy for the fact that Namine could hold Roxas when she couldn't. Which they did, as the glass faded away and became sand on a dark beach, the inverted Destiny Islands. Their embrace was the last thing Xion saw before falling into the Abyss of Sora's sealed memories.


	3. Chapter 3: Faceless Friend?

Castle Oblivion. It was where Xion had learned the cold truth of her existence Axel had tried to shelter her from. Now it was her prison, memories Sora could never recall, no matter how much she screamed.

Xion wasn't sure how long she'd been trapped watching Sora's memories of Castle Oblivion. As they replayed she grew to think him a fool and her distaste for Namine grew steadily. It would have been better never to exist then feel what she did now. She could not judge Kairi, who she knew Sora cared about deeply and that was why she agreed to surrender her existence. But did anyone deserve to be happy for all the suffering it cost?

"Were you forgotten as well?"

The voice made Xion jump for no one had, before that, addressed her. It couldn't have been an aspect of the memory, in which Namine was apologizing-like it would do any good, Xion thought. The boy in front of her wearing an outfit that resembled Riku's Replica's Dark Mode uniform, the only difference was his face covered by a helmet. She drew her KeyBlade, an easy task in Sora's mind.  
"Who are you?" She shouted, tears no longer in her. All that remained anymore was rage. The boy held up his hands.  
"I was sealed, trapped here, just like you."  
"You didn't answer my question."

He regarded her before holding out his hand.  
"My name is Vanitas. Its good to see another living being."  
"I see."

They stood a short distance from each other as the memory played out before Vanitas spoke again.  
"I do not know if Sora ever knew of my existence. Very few meet the sides of their KeyBlade."  
"I wouldn't know." Xion whispered.  
"Are you not like me?"

It was an odd question, but Xion looked up slowly and asked it.  
"What do you see when you look at me? Some see a boy who looks like Ventus, some see a puppet and some see..." How did she describe the face she imagined as hers? To her surprise Vanitas laughed.  
"You are not Ventus. I see the Lady of this Castle, in a purple gown. She has but begun to access the power that could be hers, trapped here."

Given the flattery it was hard to keep her guard of.  
"Sounds like you need help with escape." Xion stated. Vanitas chuckled for a moment.  
"I suppose I do seek it. I would follow you though, if you were the cause of my escape."  
"And how would one propose I do that? I am trapped in here, possibly worse then you and a 'Lady of This Castle' needs more forces then I have!"  
"There is one who can escape."  
"What?"

This caught Xion's attention. For a moment her thoughts flooded to Roxas, helping him escape and become a person again. Vanitas exhaled and shook his head.  
"The boy. Sora. He has his own Dark Side. It escapes in the heat of battle on occasion. I believe...I believe he knows a way out."  
"What can we do with that?" Xion folded her arms. "If he can escape and we can't..."  
"He can send messages to the other Heartless."  
"Why would they be indebted to me? Your plan makes less sense..."  
"Aros-that's what I call the boy-can find an ally. He can set us all free, if given the chance."  
"So why hasn't he?" Xion snapped, suspect of the entire plan. "And why do you need me?"  
"Because," Vanitas replied, "He doesn't have enough power."  
"Why haven't you helped him?" She demanded.  
"Because unlike you, Lady," He chuckled and her spine shivered. "He nor I can summon a Keyblade. You are the key to our Freedom, and he can lead you to the Door you must unlock."


	4. Chapter 4: Dark Reflection

"There's a door to escape?"

Xion ran after Vanitas as he led her through memories of Sora's. They were passing dark times: when he desperately pleaded to see Kairi, when he found out Riku had betrayed him, when he found out the only way to save Kairi might cost him his life, when they were separated, when he felt he might be useless to save her.

"Yes," Vanitas replied simply, "Deep within Sora's mind. Where we are heading. It is where Aros tends to linger, you see. Sedimental fool. With your Keyblade, it can be opened."  
"And we can all go free?" Again Roxas flashed in her memories. Before Vanitas could speak a new voice entered.  
"Why did you bring this fool of a child, Vanitas?" All Xion could see in the black was two yellow eyes, "She only thinks of the one she loves."  
"I can't-" Xion began to protest as Aros stepped out, Anti-Sora in the flesh. Sort of.  
"_Nobodies_ can't feel emotion. Remember you aren't one. As such, remember Roxas can never have the feelings for you that you have for him." Aros hissed. Xion flinched away, but all of what he said made sense. Her attention was pulled back as Aros yelled. When Xion looked up Vanitas was holding a hand in the air and Aros was rubbing his head.  
"She _is _The Lady of Oblivion._"  
_"You said that of Namine as well. What makes her different?" Aros snapped. Vanitas shook his head and began to speak.  
"She was created from fragments of memory and forgotten the second she no longer existed, even by her Beloved Roxas." Vanitas clarified. As they spoke, Xion fell back a bit. A hand was over her chest as she breathed deep.

She wasn't a Nobody. Did that mean...she had emotion? Then what was she? Xion closed her eyes, trying to focus on herself as they spoke.  
"_...You've explained everything to her?"  
"What do you take me for?"_

"Fine. Don't trust me. But don't tell me you don't want to see her again." 

But she barely heard any of this. She did hear something else. It was slow, but it was there. _Ka-Thump_.  
"I have a heart."  
"And that sound earlier was it shattering, I bet." Aros snapped. "Seeing the boy you love and realize your feelings are one sided. Being an oddity is not always a good thing girl!" He yelled out again as Xion's face fell. Vanitas approached her carefully, offering a handkerchief, though she had no idea where we got it.  
"There six people trapped in this boy's mind." Vanitas exhaled. "Myself. You. Aros here. That blonde girl. Roxas. And..." He paused, choosing a word. "An old ally of mine. Ventus. You can set them all free."  
"You make it sound like the solution to everything." If Aros's point had been to crush Xion's hope, he had succeeded.  
"It is, in fact."  
"Roxas is still-"  
"There is no promise that they'd come out differently." Vanitas stated. "However you should note at this point he has been exposed to his Somebody. It is entirely possible it will have given him that ability to feel."  
"It should also be noted that emotions are in the brain, not the heart." Aros sighed. "The Heart is more like your soul. What makes you who you are. Nobodies have brains, they have emotions though they tend to deny it. A rumor started by the original Six members of the Organization so the rest would follow their will."

"Well that worked splendidly. Half the organization had a scheme to take over or turn on it's leaders." Xion snorted. Vanitas laughed, clapping a hand on her back, and looking to Aros again. Or at least, she thought so-his helmter turned in his general direction. "So Aros. What do you say you lead us to the door so Xion here can let us out?"  
"...Xion." Aros looked at him. "Did Vanitas tell you everything? How it works?"  
"I use my Keyblade," She stated, "Because neither of you can summon one."  
"...Really?" Aros seemed to glare at Vanitas who held up his hands.  
"Come now Shadow! It was easier then trying to explain all the logistics. Besides-don't you want to see your lovely girl again?"

Aros seemed to hesitate, glanced to Xion again, and for a moment she thought she saw sadness on his face.  
"Some day, Vanitas," Aros stated quietly, "You'll understand the pain you cause."  
"Yes yes." Vanitas shook his head. "But will you lead us?"

"...Xion." Aros faced him. "This...Roxas. Would you die for him?"  
"I kind of did that already." She pointed out. The heartless showed the flicker of a smile.  
"Would you kill for him?" This question caught Xion off guard. But she didn't need to think about it long.  
"...Yes..."  
"Very well. Then follow me."


End file.
